20 References to the Old ‘Halloween’s In the New ‘Halloween’

It’s a valentine to John Carpenter’s Halloween, wiping away 40 years of middling-to-terrible sequels and restoring the franchise to its roots as a tale of suburban suspense and horror. Gone are the druids, the Myers family telepathy, and the possibly incestuous babies. In their place is a stripped-down callback to the original Halloween about a mental patient who escapes from the hospital, returns to his childhood home in Haddonfield, Illinois and begins murdering babysitters. In Green’s film, the lone survivor of his first rampage (Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode) has been preparing for 40 years for Michael’s eventual return. On Halloween 2018, he finally does. It’s up to Laurie to bring an end to Michael’s killings, and protect both her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak).

It’s not just the story that feels familiar, Green (and co-writers Jeff Fradley and Danny McBride) have littered their Halloween with numerous references to Carpenter’s. Some scenes are repeatedly almost verbatim, others are reconceived in surprising ways. Famous lines are uttered, and bits of Halloween trivia and lore — like the film’s original title before producer Irwin Yablans suggested Carpenter set the movie on Halloween — pop up in dialogue. None of it is distracting if you don’t know the Carpenter film. If you are familiar with the 1978 Halloween, though, you’ll dig the new one that much more.

Here’s 20 of our favorite Halloween Easter eggs in 2018’s Halloween. Most refer to the first movie, but with a few nods to those infamous sequels tossed in as well. (And yes, there are SPOILERS for both Halloweens below.)